Needle threader



J. B. BIEDERMA N NEEDLE THREADER March 6, 1951 Filed July 1, 1949 IN V EN TOR. JOSEPH B. BIEDERMAN Patented Mar. 6, 1951 UNITED ,STATES PATNT orrics NEEDLE THREADER Joseph B. Biederman, Cincinnati, Ohio Application July 1, 1949, Serial No. 102,611?

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for threading needles.

As is well known, it is diflicult to pick up a needle from a fiat surface such as a table top because the needle can lie flat upon the table top where difiicult to reach and because it has sharp pointed ends. An object of this invention is to provide a device for threading a needle having means for picking up a needle from a flat surface such as a table top.

A further object of this invention is to provide a needle threading device having means for both picking up the needle and holding the needle firmly while the thread is inserted into the needle threader thereof.

Briefly this invention provides a needle threader having a magnetic plug and a needle-threading wire loop which loop can be passed through the eye of a needle. The plug is disposed in a shell or housing at an end of an elongated handle and serves to hold free ends of the wire of which the threading loop is a part. The magnetic plug serves two functions. Firstly it serves to hold the needle against the handle portion and out of the way when the wire loop has been threaded through the eye of a needle so that a thread can be threaded through the loop and,

while the thread is being threaded through the loop, the needle cannot swing away from the handle. In addition, the magnetic plug provides a magnet at the end of the handle so that when the-handle is placed on a needle located upon a table top the plug engages the needle magnetically and raises the needle from the table top.

The above and other features and objects of the invention will in part be apparent and will in part be obvious from the following detailed description and the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away and in lengthwise section showing a needle threader and cap therefor constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation showing a cap which forms a part of the needle threader;

Fig. 3 is a view in section taken along a line III-III in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away and in section showing a needle threader constructed in accordance with a second embodiment of this invention.

In the following detailed description and the drawing, like reference characters indicate like parts.

In Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, a. needle threader is shown which includes an elongated handle por tion It! which may be formed of transparent plastic material, or other suitable material, preferably non-magnetic material. The handle H3 is provided at one end thereof with a socket l2 which houses .and frictionally holds therein a plug l3. The plug I3 is a permanent magnet, being formed of appropriate magnet material. A length of wire having a loop l4 and free ends it is held by its free ends between the plug 63 and walls of the socket E2, the loop H3 extending outwardly from the socket. As shown, the free ends of the wires are bent, as indicated at It and are wedged beneath the magnetic plug. The plug may be held in place in the socket by friction or an appropriate cement may be used to hold the plug in the socket. Edges of the socket may be turned over the outer end of the magnet plug as indicated at It" to help hold the plug in place in the socket. When the plug is cemented in the socket, the wires are firmly held in place beneath the plug. The loop Id may be of the usual diamond shape common in needle threaders, and the loop is adapted to pass through the eye of a needle ll. When passed through the needle eye preparatory to threading, the magnetic plug l3 holds the needle against the end of socket l2 and the magnetic plug l3 so that the needle can not swing freely but is held in place while a thread is threaded through the loop. When the thread has been threaded through the loop, the needle is pulled off the magnet and the loop whereby the thread is pulled through the eye of the needle.

A removable cap I8 is provided which has a socket l9 which is adapted to fit about the end of the handle covering the needle threading loop M to protect the loop when not in use. The cap is slideable from the position shown in full lines to the position shown in dotted lines in which the cap covers the loop It. The cap !8 may be formed of appropriate transparent plastic material, and a free end thereof may be formed into a magnifying glass 2|. As indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the cap may be slid over the needle threading loop l4 and the end of the handle to form a cover for the loop.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 4 differs from that illustrated in Figs. 1

to 3 inclusive particularly in that no cover is provided for the loop and further differs in the form of the loop. As illustrated in Fig. 4, a handle member 23 is provided having an axial socket 24 at one end and a magnifying portion 26 at the opposite end. A magnetic plug 21 is held in the socket and holds an end of a length of wire 28. The wire includes a needle threading portion 29 which extends outwardly from the socket. As shown, the needle threading portion 29 includes a main section 3| which may be straight and a loop section 32 which is turned back alon the main section being curved, as shown and having a free end bent toward the main section.

The wires employed in the needle threading devices of this invention may be formed either of non-magnetic material or of appropriate magnetizable metal such a stainless steel or nickel. When the wire is formed of magnetizable material, the magnetic plug can magnetize the wire. When a needle is disposed upon the flat upper surface of a table, the wire loop [4 of the needle threading device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive may be brought against the needle, whereupon the magnetic plug and the loop magnetically engage the needle so that the needle can readily be raised from the table. Then the loop of the needle threader may be inserted through the eye of the needle whereupon the magnetic plug serves to hold the needle out of the way and against the handle I!) while a thread is inserted through the loop. Finally, the needle may be removed from the loop to thread the needle.

The needle threader shown in Fig. 4 operates in the same manner as the threader illustrated in the other drawings but, since the end of the looped section 32 is free, the threader shown in Fig. 4 can readily be inserted through needles having small eyes. When the needle threadin portion 29 is disposed through the eye of a needle, a length of thread can be pulled along the main section 3| to slip beneath the free end of the curved loop section. The needle threader can be pulled free from the needle to thread the needle.

The embodiments of the invention described above and illustrated in the drawin are subject to structural modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention What I claim as novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a needle threader, the combination of an elongated handle member having a socket at one end, a magnetic plug in said socket, and a length of Wire having a central loop portion and a pair of free ends, the free ends of said wire being held in said socket between the magnetic plug and the walls of the socket, the free ends of the wire being substantially in sidewise abutment at the open end of the socket, tips of the ends of the wire being turned over the inner end of the plug, the loop extending outwardly of the socket and having a central portion having sides normally spaced for receiving an end of a thread, the loop being adapted to be removably extended through the eye of a needle, said magnet being adapted of free ends, the free ends of said wire being held in said socket between the magnetic plug and the wall of the socket, whereby the wire is magnetized and the wire is adapted to engage a needle magnetically to raise the needle from a fiat surface, the free ends of the wire being substantially in sidewise abutment at the open end of the socket, the loop extending outwardly of the socket and having a central portion at which the sides of the loop are normally spaced for receiving the end of a thread, the loop being adapted to be removably extended through the eye of the needle, said magnet being adapted to hold the needle upon the substantially abutting portions of the wires and remote from the central portion of the loop for passing the end of the thread through the central portion of the 3. In a needle threader, the combination of an elongated handle member having a magnetic head, a length of wire having a central loop portion and a pair of free ends, means for attachin the free ends of the wire to the head. substantially in sidewise abutment with the loop extending outwardly of the handle member, the central portion of the loop having sides normally spaced for receiving an end of a thread, the loop being adapted to be removably extended through the eye of a needle, said magnetic head being adapted to hold the needle upon the substantially abutting portions of the ends of the wire and remote from the central portion of the loop for passing the end of the thread through the central portion of the loop.

JOSEPH B. BIEDERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

